Thanks to everyone for your feedback on these autographs. I really appreciate the time you took to look at them and I'll try to answer your questions. Keep sending opinions, consensus is good.
These were purchased from numerous sources many years ago, I would say 1980s and 1990s, and thankfully no, I don't have a fortune tied up in them. If the consensus is that any are good, they won't be for sale if it is the only example I have of the guy.
I did not know about a famous violinist named Albert Spalding, so thanks for that information- I will look into it.
These were purchased before there were any TPA's, so I sometimes wrote and/or sent Xeroxes of these before I purchased them to guys that I trusted in the hobby for second opinions. Some of those guys were Mike Gutierrez, Bill Zekus, Jim MacAlister, Jack Smalling, Jeff Morey, Doug Averitt, and I may have also used Jim Stinson. I also purchased and/or traded with those guys as well as Jim Spence, Bill Van Buskirk, Bill Corcoran, Craig Woodcock, Wayne Stivers, although I can't say for 100% if these came from those guys.
Since these purchases happened so long ago, and I didn't keep good records of where I got them, I would not ask anyone for a refund on these. In the old days, just about everything was sold 'as is' and 'buyer beware', so if you bought it, it was yours. You were dependent on the seller's reputation.
I didn't keep good records as I said, and I don't want to imply that anyone I bought from knowingly sold me bad stuff. I think most of the folks who sold me these items truly believed they were good. Some of my files indicate that the Wilbert Robinson came from Dan Ginsburg. Doug Averitt said it looked good. Another letter suggests I acquired the Cummings and maybe a John Clarkson from Wayne Stivers in trade. Be assured having never seen a Cummings or Clarkson, I wasn't going to buy them from just anyone- but from someone I trusted, and I trusted Wayne, so if I got them from him, I have no hard feelings, because I think he believed they were good.
I have noticed that my Cummings and Clarkson closely match the examples shown in Mark Alan Baker's book, SCD Baseball Autograph Handbook which came out in 1991. I think I acquired the Cummings and Clarkson in 1997, so it is entirely possible that a forger used exemplars in Bakers book as a pattern. I did not post a scan of the Clarkson but I can if anyone wants to see it. Baker's book makes the statement "Clarkson samples are common in pencil, but characteristic of baseball pioneers, very limited in supply." I now understand that Clarkson is exceedingly rare, so it makes me wonder what Baker was looking at when he says "Clarkson samples are common in pencil...".
The thinking many of us had in those days were that more of these early autographs were out there, but just hadn't been found yet. We heard frequent stories of fantastic finds of hoards of cards back in the 1980s when the card hobby was seeing a revival of interest. We thought that autograph collections were going to be discovered and autographs of the baseball pioneers would be available. That really hasn't happened or hasn't happened to the degree it happened with cards, with the recent exception of the Senate Page Collection and even a find like that appears to be the exception rather than the rule. Where are all the signatures of the guys who were in business, in public office, or public figures for years? Where are the Cap Anson, Monte Ward, Al Spalding, Wright Brothers, Morgan Bulkley, Jim O'Rourke, Hugh Jennings? Were they all thrown away by family or acquaintances who did not realize their significance? Does the Hall of Fame have them all? If folks can still find a sack of seven T206 Ty Cobbs, why can't they find a stack of Monte Ward signed checks? Are they all gone and lost to history? I have seen more examples of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, etc. than I have seen of some of these guys. And don't get me started on the Negro League pioneers. Where are all the Rube Fosters? Sorry, I digress. Thanks to everyone for your help.
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